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10/17/2013

Since the headwinds were strong along the coast, we went inland before St Tropez towards Grimaud and Gonfalon. This meant a long climb with beautiful scenery and slightly more modest winds. At this point, my quads are shot from hills and it took some extra Gu and caffeine to get me through the day. We stayed in Brignole which is not much of a town, but they had beer, pasta and eventually ice cream. You really can't go wrong with vanilla.

It's fair to say that Brignole's beauty was greatly enhanced with alcohol and the ProHDR iPhone app. This thing is amazing. However, it did cause a net decrease in our traveling speed to an average of 21kph. The ride from Brignole was very cold the next the morning (5F) but was quite scenic, especially in the afternoon as we got closer to Aix. After 7 days of cycling and 700km, my legs were glad to be done. It was a great trip and we were most fortunate to have good weather.

10/16/2013

From Nice we cycled down to Ste Maxime, facing strong headwinds in the afternoon. I was grateful to be able to draft behind M. Pavan. Scenery was beautiful but temperatures went up to 28F making it a bit of an ordeal.

We were grateful to find an excellent Vietnamese / French restaurant in Agaye for a late lunch. Otherwise, many locations were "Fermé la saison." To say we are obsessed with food would be an understatement.

10/14/2013

It was a tough steep ride into Nice through Gourdon, but beautiful. Weather in Nice was excellent with about 5 minutes of rain and mostly cool weather for the climbs. Food was fantastic, as usual, and we stayed in the same hotel for two nights, which was a rare treat.

That also meant that on our "easy" day we were able to drop about 5 pounds of bags from the bikes, making the climbs somewhat less taxing. On this day, Mike and Pavan cycled the Col de la Madonne, a famous Lance Armstrong training ride. Kaj and I cycled the Grande Corniche, then into Ventimiglia, Italy and through the Formula 1 Grand Prix Tunnels of Monaco. Luckily Kaj had 2 beers at lunch that day and was fearless.

10/13/2013

One of the most scenic parts of our trip was cycling from Valensole to Grasse through the Gorges du Verdon. This was a beautiful and sceneic ride, but a long one: 150km, with 2,500m of vertical climb, following our first day of 130km from Aix. Still, we got to stay in a castle in Valensole which was pretty cool.

Nonetheless, it made for a long day and as a result of a couple of wrong turns we finished in the dark coming into Grasse. It was somewhat terrifying to be coming down steep mountain roads in the dark, but drivers are very good about watching for cyclists and we were grateful when we got near town and had streetlights to provide visibility.

10/11/2013

We started and ended our trip in Aix-en-Provence which is about a 30 minute bus ride from Marseille airport. It's a nice, friendly city with lots of excellent restaurants and cafes. We have reservations here in Aix at the Hotel Du Glove and also at a castle in Valensole after the first day of cycling. Otherwise we are riding without fixed plans. Since it is the low season, we figure we can find two star hotels pretty easily.

10/10/2013

Our bike trip is a seven day loop from Aix-en-Provence to Nice through the alps and then south along the coast. We're going without panniers, just carrying everything we've got in two small bags, one on the handlebar and one on the seat post. But the hills are pretty long and steep, so it make sense to sacrifice in order to save weight.

10/09/2013

Yes, my "camping gear" is fine, thanks for asking. Actually, the Aircaddy box ($40 on Craigslist) contains two-wheeled camping gear, namely my Specialized Roubaix road bike. But United, and most other airlines, charge you $200 if you pack a bike and they charge you $0 if you send camping gear, ski equipment, golf clubs, archery equipment or just about anything else.

07/12/2013

Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, is home to nearly 40% of Iceland's 320,000 citizens including a growing number of yak herders. Here are some photos around the Reykjavik area, including the somewhat overrated Blue Lagoon, which is a massive man-made outdoor Geothermal spa created from runoff from a nearby Geothermal power plant.

And here's some local art including some impressive murals at a skatepark as well as post-modern pop art by controversial Icelandic artist Erró.

07/09/2013

I don't know if Iceland has more waterfalls than any other country in the world, but it's ceartainly got some of the best what with Gullfoss, Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss, Svartifoss, Goðafoss, Uberfoss, Yúdaboss, Dentálfloss etc. I'm not sure we saw all of Iceland's waterfalls, or whether we just saw the same ones two or three times. It's hard to trust those guides.

Nonetheless, the hiking in Iceland was fantastic. While the weather was often cold, it was always beautiful and we were lucky with never having more than a sprinking of rain. Hikes included mountain treks, explorations of volcanic lava fields, craters, geysers, beaches, glaciers and of course, plenty of waterfalls. Here are some photos:

Unfortunately, we did not get to see any of the famous Icelandic guard yaks. I'm getting concerned that Kleiner Perkins might have been overly optimistic in their assessment of the potential for www.yakwhisperer.com in Iceland. Still, it could be a nice strategic fit with their Norwegianautomotive investments.